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Honda Accord Hybrid

fyi honda accord has been added to irs list for tax deduction as of feb 9 2005

i have had my honda hybrid for about 2 months and have already taken in to the dealer both the IMA indicator light and the battery recharge indicator light went on for no apparent reason

I was told this is not unusual with such a computerized car. They ran a diagnostic on it and found nothing. Just a computer malfunction is what I was told. Nevertheless I was very dissappointed with the whole ordeal. This is my first Honda. I am thinking I should have stuck to Nissan. Never had any problems with my altima.

Honda Accord Hybrid

First of all, a correction on the HP figures of VW diesels. In N. America, our Passat has 134 hp. That may seem "weak" compared to a 255 horse Honda. But it also has 247 lb-ft of torque peaking at just 1900 rpm. For most people, in real-world (ie, not 0-60 Car and Driver sprints), torque makes the car more flexible and driveable.

As for mileage, all I can say is that on my 105 km (one-way) daily commute, done at 75-80 mph, with the last 20 km or so in stop-and-go traffic, I have consistently, through the winter months, averaged 35 mpg with our Passat. For a car that retailed for about $28k US. The TDI option cost a whopping $350 more over an automatic gas Passat.

As I pointed out elsewhere I have yet to see a solid economic case made for a hybrid unless there are tax incentives.

As for emmissions, taking into consideration the refining of the fuel, I believe that a diesel will do better than a hybrid for greenhouse emmissions (namely, CO2) whereas a hybrid will do better for particulates and NOx.

Honda Accord Hybrid

Honda Accord Hybrid

Car and Driver may not have liked the Jetta much, but Popular Science did a comparison of eight diesel and hybrid cars. I believe it was the Liberty CDI vs. the Ford Escape Hybrid, Jetta TDI vs. Prius, and Mercedes E-class CDI vs. Honda Accord Hybrid. They liked the technological stuff on the Prius, but they also found the Jetta TDI fun to drive. I'm surprised they didn't check out the Honda Civic Hybrid, IMO, it would have been a better comparison to the Jetta. They found the mileage difference between the Prius and the Jetta to be fairly small, at least when they drove them.

I'm not surprised that Car and Driver wouldn't like the Jetta TDI that much. Most of these magazines are biased in favor of performance cars. And the engine in the Jetta is hardly a performance engine. But it does get you from point A to B without using alot of fuel.

On a side note, Gran Turismo 4 (Playstation 2 game) has a Toyota Prius as a raceable car. You can buy the 2002 or the 2004 Prius. Rumor has it that the Honda Civic Hybrid is buried within the game, and I have also seen the Insight (It costs 21,900 credits).You can even see your MPG meter while you drive the Prius, and it also simulates the electric battery, regen braking and the synergy drive nicely (the display looks and works just like when I drove one). I only get a 0-60 of 14 seconds, though, for a stock car, which is not going to win any of the races (so I drove it for a while, then sold it). You cannot soup it up much, which is a bummer; a hybrid racecar could easily beat a conventional car with a large enough battery and electric motor.

Honda Accord Hybrid

Another note about diesel hp that I forgot to mention above. A poster said that the most powerful turbodiesels have only about 100 hp. I mentioned the Passat at 134 hp. The Mercedes CDI available in the N. America has 200 hp. The Liberty CRD has, if I'm not mistaken, 160 hp. The Touareg V10 has 310 hp and 555 lb-ft of torque! Admittedly however the latter is not really intended for fuel economy.

In Europe, BMW, VW and Mercedes have turbodiesels ranging from 90 to 200 hp. TDIs of 150 hp are common over there. Low-sulphur diesel after 2006 will permit a wider choice in N. America.

The 200 hp Mercedes CDI is rated at only 1 or 2 mpg less on the highway than my 134 hp Passat.

IF our goal is to reduce dependency on fossil fuels while reducing greenhouse emissions, I maintain that diesels are the quickest way to achieve this. They are proven technology and will be much cheaper to maintain (no batteries!) than hybrids over the long haul.

I do think however that hybrids have their place, especially in the city where smog is a greater issue. But for anyone having to do serious highway miles, hybrids are not the answer, at least not with the current state of the technology.

Honda Accord Hybrid

How much of a load are you carrying in your trunk?
Are you using the "ECON" button for your climate control? Have you been monitoring your tire pressure? Each or all of these things can have an impact.

Honda Accord Hybrid

The reason why the Honda Accord Hybrid has such odd (and pretty poor) city/highway mpg figures compared to the Toyota Prius is very simple: the Accord is only just barely a hybrid by the skin of its teeth, as you can tell easily from the 15 HP of its electric motor vs the 67 HP of the electric motor on the Prius.

If you reduce the size of the electric motor in a hybrid far enough, it becomes just a token gesture. The Accord's electric motor isn't quite a token gesture and it certainly does help quite a bit, but it's getting perilously close to being token.

The electric motor in the Prius provides 88% as much power as its gas engine (67 / 76 HP), whereas in the Accord Hybrid it provides only 6% (15 / 240 HP). Not surprisingly then, the Honda's mpg figures don't look much like what you'd expect from a hybrid vehicle at all.

Clearly the Prius and the Accord hybrids are entirely different kettles of fish, belonging to different pigeon holes within the hybrid spectrum.

While it's early days in the industry, I hope it's clear to environmentally concerned buyers that a large electric-to-gas power ratio is the key to making an environmentally meaningful hybrid purchase. While I am a happy Accord (non-hybrid) owner, I have to acknowledge that Honda's 15 HP of electric power just isn't adequate, environmentally speaking.

I think we need industry-wide categories of hybrid based on the electric-to-gas ratio employed, to avoid people buying not quite what they really intended. In particular, it needs to be clear to Joe Public when a particular hybrid is unable to drive under pure electric power alone, as many would consider that a "token" hybrid design.

Honda Accord Hybrid

Honda Accord Hybrid

I bought a honda accord hyrbrid in March and was able to talk to Dealer down to 27.5k. The dealers will come down in price if you haggle with them.

I drive about 35 miles to work everyday and I on average get about 30-33 mpg even when accelerating quite quickly. I was even able to get 39mpg out of it a few times.....really it all depends on traffic. The more stop and go you driving you do the drastic difference you will see in fuel economy. This car is definitely not meant for great fuel economy in a city.

Honda Accord Hybrid

I now have 7500 miles on my Accord hybrid. I drive to and from work about 40 miles each day. On those trips- 55 mph, mostly rural and only 5 stops - I average about 35 mpg. If I am working at it , I can stretch it to about 40. In more urban driving (not really city with lots of stops) I'll average around 31. I have found that I pay close attention to when the engine shuts off 3 cylinders and try to get to that mode as often as possible. If I drive to and from the store, before the car has warmed-up, it never enters that mode, and I end up getting closer to the low 20's. On the Highway at 70 I do get 38. The only thing that I've been disappointed with is the noise cancelling that often doesn't work.